The Return
by NeonZangetsu
Summary: A Remake of chapter 417, which I do not own. Ichigo finally returns to Karakura and now, its time to throwdown with Aizen! But first, some unfinished business must be dealt with... Oneshot, IchigoxTatsuki Romance, fluff, character death.


_**Just a oneshot and a variation of the latest chapter of Bleach, with a darker side to it, more emotion, grit, etc. When I saw this opportunity, I just couldn't help myself and I just HAD to give it a go. DAMN CREATIVITY! Dunno if this should even be continued, best to have you readers guess at their past, I think. Anywho, enjoy everyone, and R&R!**_

**The Return**

_Everything exploded._

The air, tranquil not a moment ago, filled with what could only be described as pressure. The sky, once a calm, clear blue, darkened under storm clouds, blotting out the sun and covering all of Karakura in the oppressive thrall of darkness. A peal of thunder shook earth and sky, and in that instant, Tatsuki Arisawa knew. Someone, _something,_was here. Whatever it was, it was massive, and it was headed their way, she somehow knew this, even as she struggled to comprehend the absurdity of it. She sagged under the weight of it, breath leaving her lungs, covered in cold sweat.

_'W-What is this?'_

The man who had once been referred to as Aizen, smiled into the storm of invisible power.

"So you've finally come."

Inadvertently, everyone, excluding the man wearing white, looked up. At that very second, a pillar of the purest white pierced through the veil of blackness, tearing through the clouds, rocketed to the ground, not a yard from where they stood. The massive force resonated, emanated, from that place. And if you looked closely, oh so very closely, you would see a black streak bolt from the spire of golden white, toward the ground.

And then, with nary a sound to announce his entry, he was before them.

When he landed, she didn't even recognize him. What had once been a boy now no longer seemed so. He stood taller, and not just in the physical sense, but in the way that this being held himself. An excessively long and unruly mop of orange, spiky hair, shaded his muddy brown eyes.

'_Ichigo.'_

Dressed in black, wielding a black katana and ready to attack, the man who had once been little more than a boy, turned toward the omnipotent being that hovered before him, with its slim build held aloft by the wings of of grey and silver and crimson. The chain, wrapped tightly about his right arm, clinked, ever so lightly as he took a small step forward, deliberately placing himself between the god-like being and his friends.

And slowly, ever so slowly, he _smiled._

"You look awful, Tatsuki-chan." His voice, it no longer cracked when he spoke. It was a strong voice, full of determination and resolve. In an single instant he was facing her, his gaze taking in her bloodied, battered knuckles, and her bruised, buckled knees. It was a strange smile he wore, devoid of any sadness, loneliness, or despair, but absent also, of any genuine distress or even amusement. It exuded only calm, kind...concern.

And still, Tatsuki paid absolutely no attention to it.

_Chan. _

The affectionate suffix he'd stopped using years ago. Chan, he'd always added it to the end of her name when they were kids, and had abruptly stopped doing so after his mother died. Initially, young Tatsuki had been quite upset over this, though she would never admit it to anyone, and _certainly _not to Ichigo. As the many summers passed into many autumns and many winters, however, she had eventually, reluctantly, grown to accept that this too, was another change that she would have to endure from the boy who always used to smile, instead of sullenly scowl.

The sudden return of the chan suffix, therefore, caused quite the mental breakdown for the exceptionally brash and thick-headed Tatsuki Arisawa. Her mouth worked silently for a handful of heartbeats, while her mind struggled to comprehend the strange look in his eyes and, well, _everything._

Unable to cope with such a radical turn of events, Tatsuki instead bit her lip to choke back a sob, and angrily wiped at her suddenly moist eyes, but all to no avail. More tears surged forth to replace those that were lost, causing her to angrily mutter something incomprehensible under her breath as they continued to spill down and over her face. Then Ichigo was _right there_, down on both knees before her, back to the enemy.

Arisawa could not help herself then. Memories, unbidden, unwanted, of all the events, leading up to this moment, roared through her eyes and ears, consuming her. Friendship, the exposure of Ichigo's greatest secret, a strong camaraderie formed thereafter, an abrupt abandonment and disappearance, all of which led up to a swift and unexpected betrayal that had lead to the death of someone they both cherished very dearly.

_'Why?'_

_Why hadn't she done it? Why wasn't she strong enough to do what had to be done, when it absolute _had _to be done? Why had she hesitated? Why had she allowed her feelings to interfere with her better judgement? If she'd only walked away, simply done as she was asked to when she had the chance, then none of this would have ever happened! Why? Oh why, oh why, oh... why, why, why, why, why, why, why, why, why, why, why, why...WHY?_

With a small whimper, the weather worn dam in her mind, the grizzled, age-old barrier that had been staving off the pain, loneliness, hurt, and anger, the wall that had kept everything back for all these years, finally collapsed. She inhaled sharply, gasping as it all became too much for her.

_"Daaaaaaaaaaaaamn iiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiit!"_

With a scream that spoke of pain, loss, and something else that words could not even hope to describe, Arisawa Tatsuki buried her head into the firm chest of Kurosaki. When he did not resist, she grabbed at his shihakusho, curling her hands weakly, desperately, into the folds of his robes.

_And she cried._

She did not care that Keigo, Mizuiro, Honshou, or even that that good for nothing Don Kanonji and that Afro guy where watching. Even as their executioner hovered only a few feet away, she made no effort to control herself. Nothing mattered anymore, didn't it? They were all going to die.

Such was her mentality, that as Tatsuki Arisawa bawled into Ichigo's chest, she thought to herself, that _it _didn't really matter anymore either. After all, what good was a secret if you took it to your grave? Any minute now, Aizen would stop toying with them and decide to end it all anyway.

And so, wriggling out of the loose, unsteady hold his hand had on the back her head, Miss Arisawa took a deep, cleansing breath, rasied her gaze so she was looking up at him through her eyelashes, hiding her intentions just long enough for a slightly confused Ichigo to look down at her.

"What are you-

As hard as she possibly could, Tatsuki grabbed a fistful of Ichigo's hair and _yanked _him towards her. Ichigo _hissed_, his eyes shooting wide open in blatant disbelief. No amount of training, mental or otherwise, could have prepared him for this. Then again, there was little that _could _be said on that matter, for their was no ultimate technique that allowed any man to understand the complex and intricate tapestry that was a woman.

Their first kiss had been clumsy, shy, inexperienced, an experiment. Their second, more deliberate, controlled, and curious, and their third, still bolder, fiercer, and wildly agressive. This kiss was neither of the three. Thier heated embrace boiled with passion and desires that could not be found anywhere but on the battlefield or in the bedroom of a newly married couple. So much was said in those slight and subtle movements, a blush on either cheek, a soft whimper here and there, all slight, significant signs to anyone who had ever experienced love towards one another.

Whether the kisses lasted for an instant, or an eternity, Tatsuki Arisawa would never truly remember. All she was aware of was his mouth moving over hers, one hand cupping her cheek, the other the delicate curve of her waist, and the most incredible realization that she was actually, totally, completely and hopelessly, in love with Kurosaki Ichigo. And if the way he kissed her was any indication, then he certainly felt the same.

Just like that, it ended.

"-Stay here, Tatsuki-chan." His voice shattered it all, right before Tatsuki's very eyes. Ichigo was gripping her by the shoulders now, drawing her gently away from him and back to reality. "Stay right there, do you understand me?" Numbed by such a ferverent expression of emotion, she could only nod and weakly reach out for him as he swept past her and pointed the tip of his blade to a now smiling Aizen. She stared after him, dazed.

Another wave of pressure embued the air, but this time, it was soley focused on one individual. The ground beneath Sosuke Aizen crumbled away into dust under the strain, buildings and debris around them dissolving under the sheer might of Ichigo's spiritual pressure, a warning display.

_"Aizen." _Came the low growl. "I see you've powered up quite a bit."

"I am impressed by you as well, Kurosaki Ichigo."

"How so?"

"I must congratulate you on the success of your evolution." The self-procliamed deity spread his arms wide, a father embracing his long lost son. "That was, such a _superb _display of power just now. I am pleased to see that you successfully grasped the opportunity I bestowed upon you."

"Oh, I did more than grasp it." Ichigo smiled once more, exposing pearly white teeth, the picture of innocence. He edged forward slightly, crouching, as if he were a fierce cat, about to pounce. Aizen's smile grew wider still, and he benevolently extended a hand toward the shinigami.

"It feels wonderful, does it not? This power that you and I have obtained? This, is what it means to be a god, to be above all other lesser beings, all other forms of existence. They are all as an ant beneath one's feet when compared to you and I, Kurosaki Ichigo. Would you not agree?"

Ichigo chuckled, a low, dark sound that changed with the sudden darkening of his sclera and iris.

"You have no idea."

And just like that, the two of them were gone, soaring off to the west. The first attack remained unseen, though it could be guessed that Ichigo had seized Aizen and dragged him away from the town in order to prevent any collateral damage. A small explosion in the distance now, confirming their position, then another, and another, as the battle began and dragged off to the north. Everyone simply sat there, blinking, coughing, trying to take it all in.

Keigo was the first to recover his voice.

"Hey, does he really stand a chance against that guy?"

Mizuiro shrugged, which of course, caused Keigo to spaz out.

"What? Why are you shrugging? I wasn't asking a rhetorical question that you weren't supposed to answer!"

"Idiot." Tatsuki, bereft, of all hope moments before, now flopped onto her back, and spread both arms behind her head. A warm smile broke out over her face as she closed her eyes and sank into a much needed nap. "There's no need to worry about Ichigo. He'll be back in five minutes."

Keigo gulped nervously as another tremor shook the ground, but he was now more fearful of invoking Tatsuki's wrath, than of the battle that was currently being fought over the fate of the universe. "A-Arisawa-san, how do you-

"Trust me." Tatsuki yawned once, closing her eyes against the sunlight that broke through the clouds. Slowly, the dark haze up above began to drift away, exposing the clear, blue, sunny skies of the afternoon. All around them, Senkaimon gates began to open, and one by one, wounded men and women in black shihakusho's, some of whom wore haori over their shihakusho, emegred. "That Aizen guy won't know what hit him."

One in particular, stood out amongst the rest, his bucket hat and sandals giving him away. With only a slight limp in his step, he waltzed over to Tatsuki and the other's, his expression as goofy as ever, as was his tone of voice."Ah, Arisawa-san! So good to see you!"

His grey gaze surveyed the battlefield briefly, then became slightly whismical. "Say, have you seen Kurosaki-san by any chance-mmph!" He found himself abruptly silenced as a short, jumpsuit clad girl with blond pigtails threw a sandal directly into his face and started shouting at him immediately thereafter, something about being a stupid bald dickhead. Tatsuki ignored all of this, and, much to everyone's surprise:

_Laughed._

"Ah shut it, geta-boushi." Smirking, she patted the dust of her ragged shihakusho, and only giggled at all the odd looks this earned her. "I'm sure he'll be around here somewhere once he's finished with Aizen over there. Until then, why don't you, oh, I don't know, clean up our town?"

"Now that's-

But Tatsuki was tired of answering questions. Actually, she was just plain tired in general. Exhaling softly, she allowed herself one last errant thought before unconciousness claimed her. '_Damn straight that bastard won't know what hit him. Che, neither did I. Ichigo no baka.'_

_**Fin.**_


End file.
